Title: Breathe

Authors: Sara And Lizzie

Rating: T for language, mild sex

Disclaimer: It would be nice to own grey's anatomy, sadly all we own are a lot of high priced shoes and handbags, and both seasons on dvd.

Summary: A month or so after Meredith's near death experience, tragedy strikes Seattle Grace again in the form of a robbery gone wrong. A hostage situation takes place in the OR. Nine lives hang in the balance as they wait to live, die, or just get blown up.

Author's Note: Wow. The last time we updated this? Feels like years ago. This particular little story is giving us trouble. Because we have all these things we want to happen, right? But the execution of them is hard. Because we want it to be in character, believable, etc. So bear with us.

So a terrorist has taken the hostage, the evil villian who helped him rears his head, and the doctors each say one thing to one person. Focus on the doctors, theyre facing the reality they might die, despite their hope. So they decide theyre all going to say one thing to one person, in case they dont have a chance to say it again.

Also, we know nothing about science, so this specimen would never exist, but pretend, okay?

AND REVIEW.

The walls were closing in on her. She had heard that trite expression all her life, and had never understood what it meant until now. It was ironic, that only after getting out of the room she had been locked in did she really feel trapped.

In the mind's eye of Callie Torres, she saw her husband's face, looking at Izzie Stevens like he wanted to save her so badly. Like he would do anything to be her hero. It was a look plagued by the guilt of knowing that if he was going to die, he wanted her to be there with him.

She had never known that look coming from her husband. But Izzie Stevens knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of that look, and for that, Callie was jealous of her. She had free reign of the hospital now. She wasn't trapped by guns and a bomb in some OR. She could walk, she could go anywhere, but Callie still felt trapped.

When she looked at it from all of the angles, it became more and more that she wasn't confined to this hospital, this city. She wasn't even confined to her marriage. She wasn't trapped anywhere. She could leave; pick up, pack her bags and go. She was a good surgeon, she'd be accepted anywhere. If only she could work up the strength to burn the bridge behind her.

The two agents that had put Callie through the tests burst into the conference room, causing everyone to look at them, some with mild annoyance. "Agent Kidman, it's Montcalm." One of the blurted out. "Dr. Torres identified the captor as Henry Montcalm."

Kidman's eyes grew slightly wide, and his partner's brow furrowed. "Montcalm was planning something big." She muttered. "He's a high roller. What the hell is he doing here, playing with doctors?" She started pacing. "Something big…"she muttered to herself, running a hand through her hair. "Something big…"

Kidman watched Wilson pace three steps away from him and then pace the three steps back. It was a little game they always played. To think, she needed to move, but he needed to be still. He frowned. It was true, Montcalm was into something big. Huge even. "What the hell is in that specimen?" he muttered, realizing the answers were in front of him.

Wilson stopped pacing and turned to the doctors seated around the table, her expression menacing. "We've been watching Henry Montcalm for years." She said, in a low, deadly voice. "Watching him for suspected terrorist acts against the United States. But one of you already knows that. Because one of you tipped him off. He's been waiting to find the perfect weapon, because Montcalm won't do it if he's not going to do it big. When he and his cell strike, they want to be sure that the whole world is watching." She paused and surveyed them, interrogating them with her eyes, searching for weakness, searching for guilt.

"One of you gave him the perfect weapon, didn't you? Specimen 435. It's deadly, isn't it? Well guess what? The game ends here. Mark my words, we will find out which one of you is trying to help him destroy this country. The game will end."

They had lapsed back into silence inside the OR. It wasn't the tense silence that had left the room charged and ready to implode before. It was a comfortable silence, a silence that gave them a sense of camaraderie. They were in this together. Izzie still hated the silence.

"What were you thinking?" she asked Meredith. "What were you thinking when you were underwater?" Meredith looked at her, slightly taken aback. They hadn't really ever talked about that day. It was one of those dark days that you didn't discuss, like the day your fiancée dies, the day your baby dies, the day your parent dies. The day your boyfriend has a wife. You don't sit down and chat about days like those.

She cleared her throat. "I guess I was just thinking about all the things I never said to people. I think I was scared that I would never get a chance to say them." She said quietly. Derek wasn't touching her at this point. He didn't want to talk about this day either. Izzie nodded.

"Fine." She said. "Let's do that then. If you could say one thing to one person in the room, what would you say?" she asked, not realizing what a loaded question it was.

He sat among them, blending in. No one would suspect him, not for a minute. Everything had gone exactly to plan. He had played an instrumental part in the creation of the specimen, but it had been his idea to form the pact not to tell anyone.

As soon as they had all agreed, he had made the call to Henry Montcalm, and had finally, finally, after all of the years of waiting been able to tell him that he had exactly what Montcalm was searching for.

They had created a monster. The monster everyone had been fearing since September eleventh of 2001. The monster, that, if used correctly, could destroy America. Could destroy anything. It was a powerful feeling to know, not only, that you had created such a thing, but that you alone had decided the fate of a nation.

Subtly, he checked his watch. Only seven and a half hours to go. Montcalm would get the specimen either way, they had made sure of that. And soon after, the United States would be at the mercy of Henry Montcalm and his creation. And none of them knew a thing.

Alex nodded at Izzie. "That's a good idea. Reality says we might die in here. If that happens, I'd like to go knowing someone at least knew what I thought."

"Trust me Evil Spawn, I wont care." Cristina quipped. Alex made a face at her, and Burke shushed her. Everyone had fallen quiet, and a somber feeling came over the room.

"I'll even go first." Alex said. "I want to say something to the other interns. All of you. Be one entity for a little while. Shouldn't be too hard." He stopped to collect the thoughts that had been racing in his head the whole time they'd been locked in here.

Alex had told the chief he didn't like this team. He made the blocks and didn't talk to the press because he had to, but it was clear to him that wasn't true. All the patients they had killed or almost killed, all of the disasters that had been thwarted, all the crises that had barely been averted, they all swirled in his head slowly, like a film. They had been through a lot, too much this year, and he couldn't imagine going through any of it without them.

"I'm an ass." He said firmly. "And sometimes I don't like you guys. Sometimes I pretend not to like you guys. But really, I like you guys. We're a team you know? We help each other, we cover for each other. It seemed like a burden for awhile, but now, now it seems like a family or something."

The interns mentally separated themselves from the attendings, each lost in thought. Alex was right; it seemed, about them being a team, a family. They had always been there for each other.

"We always will be." George said finally. "A family. There for each other. Sometimes, we're all that we've got."

As they nodded and smiled at each other, the conference room had grown tense as the doctors were ordered to finally tell them what was in the specimen. Dr. Hunter decided to take responsibility. Maybe it was because she was the lone female, and her maternal instincts kicked in times of crisis. "Specimen 435 was created accidentally." She said quietly, her voice wavering slightly. "It's a complex union of a lot of elements, and to fulfill what then seemed like a patriotic duty, we added something. Now it shows itself for what it was, an egotistical need to be the ones who were the heroes."

Richard rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for your monologue, Sharon." He said. "I just want to know what's-"

She cut him off. "It's a weapon. We added a strand of an unknown virus and it mutated. We tested it on lab rats, they suffocated, and their systems shut down within minutes. It's deadly, and it's in there. If used correctly, it could kill millions in under an hour."

A hush fell over the room.